First-time pacers Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge each secured four wickets to propel Sunrisers Hyderabad to a commanding 57-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL 2026 encounter. Following Hinge’s devastating assault on the top order with four dismissals in merely 11 deliveries—including removing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel—Sakib wreaked havoc through the lower batting lineup to inflict RR’s initial loss of the campaign. Set a target of 217, the Royals collapsed to 159 all out, with Donovan Ferreira (69 off 44) leading the scoring in a solitary battle. Previously, a spectacular 91 from skipper Ishan Kishan had driven SRH to their imposing total of 216/6. Praful and Sakib registered super dreamy debuts and helped SRH to break RR’s winning streak.
TOSS
Rajasthan Royals won the coin flip and elected to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI):
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI):
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
For consecutive matches, Jofra Archer delivered on the opening ball as Abhishek Sharma tried creating space to launch the fast bowler toward third man but was caught at the boundary by Ravi Bishnoi. This marked the seventh occasion Abhishek registered a duck in T20 matches this year. Archer and Nandre Burger persistently challenged Travis Head and Ishan Kishan with additional bounce, maintaining control over the initial assault. Kishan started unleashing from the fifth over once the pair was removed from the attack, targeting Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande to guide the team to 51/2 during the powerplay.
Right when Ishan Kishan and Travis Head appeared ready to overcome their sluggish beginning, Riyan Parag introduced himself into the bowling and immediately removed Head. Nevertheless, this didn’t deter Kishan from maintaining his aggressive approach. The captain sustained the momentum, which featured 21 runs extracted from Tushar Deshpande in the 11th over, and two overs afterward, he hammered Jofra Archer for four consecutive boundaries. Partnering with Heinrich Klaasen, he accumulated 88 runs from just 39 deliveries, though ultimately finished nine runs shy of his century.
Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma returned to remove Kishan and Klaasen in rapid succession, temporarily slowing the run rate, but powerful strikes from Nitish Reddy (28 from 13 balls) and Salil Arora (24* from 13 balls) helped push SRH to 216/6, significantly assisted by numerous wides, as both RR fast bowlers conceded more than 50 runs from their four-over allocations.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Making his IPL debut, Hinge began by removing Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan Dre-Pretorious during his opening over—establishing himself as the first bowler to claim three wickets in his maiden IPL over.
However, the early collapse continued. Sakib Hussain, the other newcomer, contributed in the following over by dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal. Before the fifth over concluded, captain Riyan Parag also departed, edging a cut shot to wide slip. Struggling at 9 for 5 within three overs, the match was essentially decided during the powerplay.
On a batting-friendly surface, with finally some meaningful time at the crease, Ferreira and Jadeja stabilized the innings and maintained boundary scoring to ensure that despite the climbing required rate, the match remained within Royals’ theoretical reach while they remained together. The fightback primarily commenced from the 11th over when Ferreira struck Shivang Kumar for a six and boundary. Needing 90 from 31 deliveries, Sakib Hussain’s slower delivery bowled Ferreira, effectively ending RR’s chances.
Jadeja was dismissed behind the stumps in the subsequent over, a decision confirmed after SRH’s successful review. From that point, it became merely procedural. Jofra Archer mistimed a scoop toward third man and was caught. Tushar Deshpande managed some powerful strikes in the closing stages, but the match had long slipped from Royals’ control.
Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 216/6 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 91 off 44 balls, Heinrich Klaasen 40 off 26 balls; Jofra Archer 2-37, Riyan Parag 1-5) defeated Rajasthan Royals 159 in 19 overs (Donovan Ferreira 69 off 44 balls, Ravindra Jadeja 45 off 32 balls; Sakib Hussain 4-24, Praful Hinge 4-34) by 57 runs.
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